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Conexant Working with Amazon to Create AudioSmart 2-mic Development Kit for Amazon Alexa

Conexant Working with Amazon to Create AudioSmart 2-mic Development Kit for Amazon Alexa

Conexant and Amazon deliver noise robust tools for manufacturers and developers to prototype and develop Alexa-enabled devices capable of hearing users from several meters away

IRVINE, Calif., December 8, 2016 – Conexant Systems, Inc., a leading provider of audio and voice technology solutions that enable a more natural user experience, today announced that it is collaborating with Amazon to release an Alexa Voice Service (AVS) approved AudioSmart™ 2-mic Development Kit for smart home applications, and are making it available to manufacturers and developers via the Amazon AVS for Raspberry Pi project. Featuring the Conexant AudioSmart CX20921 high-performance Hands-free Voice Input Processor, and Alexa wake word technology, Conexant’s AudioSmart 2-mic Development Kit for Amazon AVS will allow product developers to quickly and easily build products with Alexa that offer an ideal voice user experience.

Enabling speech recognition and voice control from a distance requires overcoming substantial acoustic challenges related to echo cancellation, background noise, position of microphones, speaker placement and more. Conexant’s dual-microphone voice processing solution is designed to recognize the Alexa wake word and deliver speech requests for processing from anywhere in the room, even in noisy, real-world conditions. The solution also enables voice barge-in capabilities, allowing users to interrupt their Alexa device when its playing sound. The AudioSmart 2-mic Development Kit will save engineering time and reduce costs related to developing noise robust voice-enabled devices.

The core component of the development kit is Conexant’s AudioSmart CX20921 Voice Input Processor running its industry-leading hands-free voice pre-processing software technology. The Conexant hands-free voice input processor system captures the user’s voice from anywhere within the room, separates the voice commands from music and voice prompts being played out of the device, even with background noise present, and provides a clean audio signal to the AVS cloud for speech recognition processing. This solution ensures that AVS hears only the user’s command, and nothing else, which in turn provides a consistently accurate AVS experience.

“We created our AudioSmart 2-mic Development Kit to provide third-party AVS developers with a high-performance alternative to multi-mic array designs, supporting high-volume consumer price points,” said Saleel Awsare, President at Conexant. “Our AudioSmart 2-mic Development Kit was designed to be easily integrated into any AVS system prototype based on the Raspberry Pi, and we worked closely with Amazon to ensure excellent hands-free voice performance capabilities with AVS. Together with Amazon, we are providing the tools that developers need to prototype with a two-microphone voice capture system and Conexant’s advanced voice pre-processing technologies. Our development kit is based on proven technology that is currently deployed in millions of consumer devices and enables developers to quickly create working AVS device prototypes in just a couple of weeks opposed to several months.”

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About Amazon:
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About Synaptics

Synaptics is the pioneer and leader of the human interface revolution, bringing innovative and intuitive user experiences to intelligent devices. Synaptics’ broad portfolio of touch, display, biometrics, voice, audio, and multimedia products is built on the company’s rich R&D, extensive IP and dependable supply chain capabilities. With solutions designed for mobile, PC, smart home, and automotive industries, Synaptics combines ease of use, functionality and aesthetics to enable products that help make our digital lives more productive, secure and enjoyable. (NASDAQ: SYNA) www.synaptics.com.